Bible Strands
2 Kings 4:38
When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elisha speaks to his attendant while the sons of the prophets sit at his feet in Gilgal during a famine. He issues a direct command to prepare a large pot of stew for the group.
The words — The Hebrew שָׁב (shav) marks Elisha’s return to Gilgal, and רָעָב (ra'ab) names the famine gripping the land. These terms anchor the narrative in a specific location and material crisis.
The thread — Elisha’s presence in Gilgal recalls his departure from that site with Elijah in 2 Kings 2:1, and his later directive to the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 8:1 extends his authority over her household. The sons of the prophets appear in 2 Kings 2:3 as they track his movements.
Why it lands — The text places practical provision before miraculous action, requiring the reader to note that physical sustenance grounds prophetic ministry. It asks the reader to observe how material scarcity shapes the sequence of events without spiritualizing the immediate command.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 2:1 Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,
- 2 Kings 2:3 Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
- 2 Kings 8:1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.”
- Luke 10:39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.
- Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
- Leviticus 26:26 When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
- Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
- Deuteronomy 28:38 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
- 1 Samuel 7:16 Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
- 1 Samuel 19:20 he sent messengers to seize him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy.